Beauty and her Bag: Kris

Kris Bernal

One of GMA’s Most Sought After Actresses

I’ve to be honest (and this is not to sound snobbish or anything) — I don’t watch a lot of television so I have the faintest clue on the newest local actors and actresses in the country (anyone with me here?). I would only know about them through their magazine covers and online features – or if they trend on social media for something.

I do however know Kris Bernal as one of the finalists of the reality talent show Starstruck — which she emerged from as the Female winner. Since then, she has definitely grown her acting career by starring on soap operas and movies left and right. Not that I’m judgy (LOL let’s call it ‘apprehensions’) but out of the past three celebrities I’ve interviewed, I expected Kris to be the ‘diva‘ type among them.

I don’t think I have ever been more wrong in my judgments. She’s extremely effervescent — candid, upbeat and open. She takes her time to really think of her answers instead of just spewing out generic templates. We definitely had a lot of laughs in between as we talked about our wonky eyeliner dilemmas and our shared aversion to sticky icky sunscreen.

It was such a fun conversation I wish I could share the video of but the audio is too messed up that I had to use earphones in a silent room to transcribe the interview. Just read her answers below and visualize how quirky this beautiful petite woman is in real life.

Beauty Q&A

“I love playing with makeup.. i have a huge collection!”

What are three items you won’t leave your house without? Nako, madami! But I think the top three would be lipstick kasi even if I don’t wear any makeup on, lipstick is a must for me parin. Also, the Shu Uemura Poreraser which serves as my sunscreen and base to even out my skintone pati minimize the appearance of my pores and lastly, cellphone!

Share your off-duty no-taping work look. If I have no work, I choose not to wear any makeup talaga so my skin can breathe. But I still wear lipstick or lipgloss parin. I usually go for a pinky nude shade para natural-looking parin but sometimes, I wear a red or a dark shade if I’m in the mood. I also never forget mascara. As in, I swear, I’m a lashes girl. I really like my eyes with curled long, black lashes.

Are you a pink or a red lipstick girl? Depende eh. For date nights kunwari, I’d wear red. I like wine shades like what you’re wearing, yan – compared to the brighter reds. I also wear pink a lot, especially when it’s daytime. But right now, nasa stage talaga ako ng red lips. Bonggangbonggang red. I even experimented with violet red shades recently!

Are you Team Matte or Team Gloss? Again, for me it depends. Gusto ko ng matte for everyday wear, but there are times I prefer wearing glossy lipsticks kasi diba parang nakaka-pout yung gloss and nakaka-dagdag ng volume? So yah, especially since I have thin lips, I also like wearing glossy.

What’s your signature scent? I’ve a small collection of perfumes in my dresser so wala talaga akong signature scent. But I think most of the fragrances I own are floral scents. Sweet florals, actually. Right now I’m wearing the Belle de Nuit Fragonard perfume. (*First time to hear of the perfume! I took a whiff of it and it’s a concoction of florals and fruits with a musky touch/base.)

Let’s talk eyeliner – are you a gel, liquid or pencil user? Well, ako kasi pasmado talaga yung kamay ko so I find it a challenge to wear eyeliner. But my choice of eyeliner would have to be the liquid pen type with the super thin tip.

So you’re not so much into eyeliners? How about mascara? Nako, yes! I love mascara. I’m in a relationship with it! Ha ha! I have long lashes kasi — *(I urged her to show me her lashes) — there, yan! Paano ba to pakita? *she twinkles her eyes a few times* Sometimes, I don’t even have to wear falsies na, just a few swipes of mascara is enough! Super love ko talagayung lashes ko, feel ko nga nalalagas na siya kaka-mascara ko everyday!

What’s your skin type? Hmmm, ano ba ako. Dry ako eh. I have dry patches on my skin often so I find it hard to put on makeup. Which is why I always choose to just put on the UV underbase as my base most of the time because it helps with the dry patches.

I use the Shu Uemura facial cleanser – the one that foams – and it really removes all my makeup. Nakaka-fresh agadafter! Sometimes, I have to use a different remover for my beloved mascara. Then yon, I don’t really use moisturizer even though I should (kasinga I’m dry). But I visit my derma naman regularly to get the treatments I need for my dry skin. I also make sure to use sunblock everyday – wag lang yung malagkit! Ha ha!

Any beauty advice? In my job, I realized talaga the best beauty tip is beauty rest. Tulog ng marami! Mahaaabang tulog, yun ang pinaka-nakakafresh! Especially since ako, ma-eyebags ako – sleep lessens the heaviness. Or else, todo todong concealer yan! When I’m taping, I only get two hours of sleep maximum so talagang I found out the wonders of sleep through experience.

Also, water. Hydration is very important and I’ve also realized that when I got dehydrated before, I thought I was okay because I eat well naman yun pala I needed to up my water intake. Lastly.. exercise! Masarap mag-pawis! Nakaka wala ng stress, ng bad vibes. It releases endorphins diba? I think kasi when you’re happy, that’s when you’re most beautiful. When you’re happy, your skin feels happy too. So girls, always choose to be happy!

*I joked that I finally learned her ultimate beauty secret: MAGPAWIS!

What’s in her Bag

Kris is a fan of the classic Hermes Kelly bag.

Let’s Snoop

Kris’ fuschia Kelly is quite packed. It includes her can’t-be-without Shu UV Underbase Poreraser (as well as a few other Shu items as she is a Shu Uemura brand ambassador). Her limited 16-pan Shu palette must be my favorite from the bunch. She let me swatch them and wow, the mattes in the palette are so goood. Unfortunately, this is most probably sold out in all Shu counters here in the Philippines. Hope the bring it back!

She also took a few Drawing Pencils and a lipstick with her that day because she was off to an event that night and needed makeup options. Along with it are her iPad, Louis Vuitton wallet and another can’t-be-without — phonepowerbank. She also carries around the whole bottle of perfume with her because she likes to constantly spritz throughout the day – the Travalo vials aren’t enough for her compulsive spraying.

Catch Her

She’s part of the noon-time variety show Sunday All Stars which airs every Sunday. Also, she’s taking part in the sixth season of Starstruck which is keeping her busiest at the moment. Kris was actually the Ultimate Female Survivor of the same talent show in its fourth season seven years ago. This time, we’ll be seeing her again in the show but as what? Secret’s not out yet. But do watch out as the show airs this September 2015.